For all we know, or think we know, about Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, what we don’t know is far, far greater. In the duo’s first case, A Study in Scarlet, we learn that Holmes and Watson met on January 1st, 1881, and subsequently moved into an apartment together at 221b Baker Street. Their first case officially began on March 4th of that year, and it is argued that “The Adventure of the Resident Patient� possibly took place in October of 1881, depending on which version of the story you read. But what happened during the rest of 1881? Or all of 1882?
To help fill the void, we have asked today’s top Sherlockian writers to rummage through their Watsonian correspondence and uncover the many mysteries left untold until now. There’s a new story for every month of the year!
I fully intend to collect all these books! Of course I'll have my favorites and believe that some are better than others, but the stories are good and worthwhile on their own. The authors have their styles and tones, but as long as the characters are true, I shall continue to read. In this book, the mystery for December was definitely my favorite... Overall, an excellent addition for any Holmes collector.
Belanger Books and editor Richard T. Ryan have given us another stellar collection of pastiches that tries to supplant the canon with stories to 'fill the gaps'. This volume contains thirteen stories� one for each month of 1882, and a bonus. Except one very poorly written story by Danielle Calloway, all the stories were exceptional. My favourites were~ 1. Stephen Seitz's "The Sons of St. George"; 2. Stephen Copland's "The Adventure of the Un-Assassinated Queen" (best story of this book); 3. Kevin P. Thornton's "The Spofforth Event"; 4. Derrick Belanger's "The Mysterious Death of Constance Hadley"; 5. Mike Adamson's "The Price of a Life"; 6. Katy Darby's "The Adventure of the Elusive Elephant". Overall, I found this anthology to be a genuine pleasure to read. Highly recommended.
A most excellent series of stories, full of mystery, dry English humor, and an unrivaled cast of characters. The added bonus is the 19th century vocabulary, which never fails to delight. Look forward to the next volume in the series!
A group of short stories by Watson as storyteller. All at least fair, accolades to final story about the disappearance of Jumbo, the star of the show. Throughout humane an respected treatment of all characters, including those many times misjudged.
As one might expect, the stories varied quite a bit, keeping it interesting. I liked some much better than others but felt they all made fun reading. Great for a bit of Holmes and Watson before bed. .
A decent collection of mysteries. While I enjoy reading these, one wonders exactly when it was that Holmes had any down time and got depressed, there's a continual flood of adventures every month.